Mates: Fixing Mate Problems
Step by Step: Change or Remove a Mate
- Open the Mates folder in the Model tree.
- Click a mate to highlight what it joins.
- Right-click it and choose Edit Feature to change it. The Mate window opens with the mate loaded. Change the value, alignment or options and click the green check.
- Or choose Suppress to turn it off without deleting it (Unsuppress turns it back on), Flip Mate Alignment to turn it the other way, or Delete.
The Mates Folder
All mates live in the Mates folder of the tree. Right-click one for:
- Edit Feature
- Suppress or Unsuppress: turns the mate off without deleting it
- Flip Mate Alignment (greyed out for Lock, Hinge, Slot, Gear, Rack and Pinion, Screw, Linear Coupler and Universal Joint; for Width, Symmetric and Angle Limit it says the mate has no alignment to flip)
- Diagnose...
- Delete
Right-click a group made in multiple mate mode for Edit Feature and Delete.
Colors
A mate that is violated or in conflict shows red. A redundant mate shows yellow. Component rows can read "free: 1 rotation", "free: 2 translations, 1 rotation", "fully defined", "over defined" or "not solved".
Over Defined
When a new mate conflicts with the existing ones, a prompt titled Over defined appears: "This mate over defines the assembly. Force it to solve? Yes breaks the conflicting mate. No keeps it unsolved."
Step by Step: Find Which Mates Conflict
- Click Diagnose in the Mates group, or click "N under defined" on the assembly row.
- Diagnose Mates lists the Mates that are not satisfied.
- Press Diagnose to find the smallest groups of mates that cannot all be satisfied together. The title reads "Not satisfied: these N mates cannot all be satisfied together".
- On each row use Edit Feature, Suppress or Unsuppress, or Flip alignment.
- Click Done when finished.
If everything is fine you see "All the mates can be satisfied together." With no mates it says "This assembly has no mates yet." Looking changes nothing until you press a button on a row.
Missing Entity
After Replace Components a mate may read (missing entity): the face it used is not on the new part. Right-click the mate, choose Edit Feature and pick a new one.
Tips
- Suppress a mate to test whether it is the one in the way, then delete it only if you are sure.
- Try Flip Mate Alignment before deleting a mate that put a part on the wrong side.
- Undo with Ctrl+Z after adding, editing, suppressing or deleting a mate.
Common Problems
- A mate is red. The parts cannot satisfy it with the others. Use Diagnose.
- A mate is yellow. It repeats what other mates already do. It can be deleted.
- A part stays free. Look at its tree row for what is left, then add a mate for it.